More Craft Brewers = More Mediocrity?

Smaller breweries are few and far between in my state. The few I have tried were just ok, and out of state small beer offerings I've tried were just ok. This site is a great tool, like you said, because now I don't have to kiss as many frogs. I love to try new beers but a lot of them are priced with the known, established, craft beers. Caveat Emptor!

 

while i agree there is a plethora of mediocre beer out there, how will you know where the bar is of a new brewer if you never try it?? You might just find a diamond in the rough before it blows up. Or it could just be decent beer and you are wiser for having tried it.

There is nothing wrong with being consistently average. You make a simple product that is tasty day in day out and your product will sell.
When repeated visits to a mind blowing brewery becomes the norm, is it still mind blowing? It can be equally good as the first time you've enjoyed it but are you still as impressed with it or do you take it for granted that it will be good?

 

I can't help but find the opposite to be true...especially now compared to ~5 years ago. There are so many (small and nascent) breweries making exceptional beer that is top notch, all over the place. *shrugs*

 

The price smaller breweries charge for their beer (especially around here) is ridiculous. If I'm going to spend $10 for a 32 oz. Crowler of an alright IPA, I'd rather just spend $25 more and get a case of Sierra Nevada Torpedo.

 

The more the merrier. The fun part of visiting small, new or remote breweries/tap rooms is tasting the exceptional, however infrequent. Happy hunting!

 

Ever considered the possibility that the trend might be in your standards for and appreciation of what is a very good or an outstanding beer? Maybe you've become more knowledgeable and experienced at telling the difference between the mediocre and the good.

 

Meow. The breweries you proclaim are stellar now had their learning curves too. Patience.

 

Totally agree. And furthermore, not everyone is "Us".

There are mediocre-to-poor brewpubs in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area that are thriving due to their location, marketing, &/or beer. The Average Joe & Josephine don't necessarily want fine brewing or IIPAs or the most skilled brewers - many of them just want something with more taste than the Bud Light they grew up on. Many of these places that I wouldn't bother with again are catering to this crowd & if they can make a go of it with beer I don't personally care for, more power to them.

 

Your attitude absolutely sucks.

Breweries grow, get better, hone their recipes, try new things, etc. Grimm is making world-class beers now but some of the first few beers they made were pretty average. If you just tried, say, Color Field, and then vowed to not try anything else out, you'd be missing top-tier stouts, IPAs and wild ales now.

To give another example: Rare Form, a local brewery, always made very good beers but their IPAs were pretty blah. If you tried one of those last year, and decided to not try their IPAs again, you'd now miss out on an absolutely tremendous DIPA in Ripple Effect that they just started making.

There are myriad examples of this.

 

Exactly! Mediocre is only meaningful compared to something else.

 

I think it depends on the market. If there is a well established base of consistent breweries and informed consumers, that market probably won't tolerate/support mediocrity.

However, a young local beer scene (like the one here in Little Rock), tends to take a while to set a bar for quality beer. Around here, people will buy beer (or almost anything else) just because it's made here. I guess the novelty can carry some breweries for a while, but only quality will survive a market shake-out.

Then again, this is all my opinion.

 

Well, from what I learned in math class, the bigger the number of something, the more of that something there will be in the middle of the bell curve, so there's that.

OTOH, I've had some pretty good beers from startup breweries. Maybe I've been lucky in my selection of places to try.

 

The more breweries there are, the more average beers there will be. It's pure statistics.

 

@TriggerFingers I think you're right on the mark with this post. I don't like where craft beer is going recently, and like others in the "bubble?" threads, I don't think there's a bubble but damnit I wish we could thin the herd a bit. No, thin it a lot.

Really the problem isn't necessarily that the new breweries come into existence, it's that consumers actually support the not so good ones and keep them in existence. That's the part of the problem that bothers me the most.

 

It really depends on a brewers skill, money they can spend on their equiptment, resources for getting their ingredients. So even the most skilled brewer after 20 years decides to go pro, they still need to deal with finances, who you know and luck. That could be a reason for "mediocre" but. Being a new brewery the best thing is support and constructive criticism not. Oh youre sub par see ya. That's why i give breweries multiple chances. New breweries gotta find that niche. And shitting on them wont help.

 

Our locals have been increasingly producing great beers since opening, so don't give up hope for ones that don't start out great.

Like every industry there will be ones that aren't as good as others, and like all industries not every brewery will succeed.

 

What do one define as mediocre? A style that is not exciting, or a beer made with minor flaws in the process?

There are some places that people love because the beers are big and bold. Or are they just hiding fermentation flaws with over hopping the beer? Then there are the ones that make beers that have chalky finishes because they don't know water chemistry.

The local brewery that I walk to has a 3.8% ABV mild that is beautiful beer to drink, but some would call it mediocre, as it is not big and bold.

 

Those stupid consumers how dare they like beer you don't.

 

This is such a nonsensical attitude and people only have it with beer. You ever hear anyone go to a grocery store and complain about there being too many bread options or too many cheese options? No, because you buy what you like. Maybe try some new things once in a while. More options does not adversely affect anyone.